The Matchbox Diary

<p><b>A breathtaking immigration tale with appeal across generations.</b><br><br>When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather&#146;s diary containing objects she can hold in her hand each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country before he could read and write &#150; the olive stone his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn&#146;t enough food; a hairpin he found on the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game. With a narrative entirely in dialogue Paul Fleischman makes immediate the two characters&#146; foray into the past. With warmth and an uncanny eye for detail Bagram Ibatoulline gives expressive life to their journey through time &#150; and towards each other.</p>